{"id":25988,"date":"2020-10-15T06:27:16","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T06:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/?p=25988"},"modified":"2020-10-15T06:27:16","modified_gmt":"2020-10-15T06:27:16","slug":"nih-launches-trial-of-antibody-drugs-against-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/?p=25988","title":{"rendered":"NIH Launches Trial of Antibody Drugs Against COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Latest Prevention & Wellness News<\/h3>\n

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\"News<\/p>\n

TUESDAY, Oct. 13, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n

A study to assess whether certain approved or experimental drugs<\/a> are effective against COVID-19<\/a> and warrant testing in large clinical trials<\/a> has been launched by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).<\/p>\n

The research will largely focus on monoclonal antibody medications. These types of drugs<\/a> garnered headlines last week as President Donald Trump credited one such drug cocktail, made by Regeneron, with helping him recover from his coronavirus infection.<\/p>\n

However, the therapy is not yet approved against COVID-19<\/a> and is still considered experimental.<\/p>\n

“The goal here is to identify as quickly as possible the experimental therapeutics that demonstrate the most clinical promise as COVID-19<\/a> treatments and move them into larger-scale testing,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy<\/a> and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).<\/p>\n

According to the NIH, the new phase 2 study will enroll adults hospitalized with COVID-19<\/a> at as many as 40 U.S sites and is being conducted by NIAID.<\/p>\n

The study will assess the approved monoclonal antibody risankizumab in conjunction with the antiviral drug remdesivir, compared to a placebo plus remdesivir. It will also test the experimental monoclonal antibody lenzilumab with remdesivir, compared to placebo and remdesivir.<\/p>\n

Remdesivir has shown benefits for patients with severe COVID-19<\/a> — so severe they needed supplemental oxygen — and is now considered standard of care for hospitalized COVID-19<\/a> patients, the NIH said.<\/p>\n

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory versions of proteins naturally produced by the immune system in response to invading viruses<\/a> or other pathogens. Some are already approved for non-COVID uses: Risankizumab received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 2019 for the treatment of severe plaque psoriasis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lenzilumab is currently being tested separately in a phase 3 COVID-19 study, and in a phase 1b\/2 study as sequenced therapy along with CAR-T treatments.<\/p>\n

About 100 volunteers will be assigned to each study arm, with each of the study sites testing no more than three treatments at once.<\/p>\n

The new study “aims to streamline the pathway to finding urgently needed COVID-19 treatments,” NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins explained in an NIH news release. That might be accomplished “by repurposing either licensed or late-stage-development medicines and testing them in a way that identifies the most promising agents for larger clinical studies in the most expedient way possible,” he said.<\/p>\n

According to Fauci, the new study’s design “is both an efficient way of finding those promising treatments and eliminating those that are not.”<\/p>\n

— Robert Preidt<\/p>\n

\"MedicalNews\"
Copyright \u00a9 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n


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References<\/p>\n


\n SOURCE: U.S. National Institutes of Health, news release, Oct. 13, 2020 \n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n